Sunday

Gone Girl

by Gillian Flynn

"Friends see most of each other’s flaws. Spouses see every awful last bit."

This book was amazing. All at once I loved it, I hated it, I was wrapped up in it, I couldn't stop thinking about it, and I couldn't stop talking about it. I found it extremely hard not to spoil this book for everyone I talked to about it.

The story starts out on Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. The day of. Every part of the story after this is centred around or after The Day Of. The day of Amy's disappearance, that is. Amy goes missing on her and Nick's anniversary leaving behind a seemingly staged crime scene, a trail of questions, and whole lot of fingers pointing towards Nick. While searching for his wife, Nick reminisces about the past a lot, wondering about his wife, her disappearance, and the state of their marriage. Interspersed throughout the present, are passages from Amy's diary starting from the time her and Nick started dating.

Each year on their anniversary Amy leaves a romantic scavenger hunt for Nick to follow, to chronicle their year together. This year, Nick is forced to complete the scavenger hunt correctly to hopefully help him find his wife. As he goes about the hunt, Nick finds that everything is not as it seems. The hunt reminds him of his wife's brilliance, foresight, and immense knowledge of his every deed or misdeed.

This read was very suspenseful. At first, I believed everything that Nick told me and the police. Also, at first, I believed everything Amy told me in her diary. But as things came to be revealed, I didn't know who to trust. This is a strange feeling as a reader; usually your narrator tells the truth, or at least some of the truth. Deceitful and intelligent narrators, pristine word choice, excellent use of voice and pacing, along with detail upon detail made me want to stay in Flynn's world.

I listened to this book as an audio book, because there was such a long queue for the actual book at my library. Let me tell you, I am happy there was such a line. The voice actors who read the audio book were amazing. I think that I could connect to the characters even more than usual because it was as if they were actually speaking to me. If you get the chance, I one hundred percent recommend listening to this book on audio book format.

Read it. The critics aren't wrong. It was gripping; I never knew what would happen next. It made me think about how much we really know about one another, about lies and how they can be built upon for years, and about toxic relationships and how far one would go to be correct. Flynn is a force to be reckoned with, and an extremely talented writer. I can't wait to read more of her work.